It’s flown a bit under-the-radar considering we’re in the midst of one of the most electrifying postseasons in recent memory, but the the Arizona Fall League season officially got underway last week, which means it’s time for dynasty managers to check in on some of the top prospects making serious noise with standout performances in the early stages of the fall showcase. The latest Fantrax Dynasty Stock Watch takes an in-depth look at five top fantasy prospects — Andrew Painter, Colt Emerson, Xavier Isaac, Zyhir Hope, and Connor Phillips — who are off to extremely encouraging starts in the fall showcase.
In case you missed it last month, we released our preliminary Fantrax Top 500 Dynasty Rankings for 2025. There will be some changes to these rankings in the coming weeks, but these dynasty rankings should give fantasy managers an edge heading into next season. Without further delay, let’s dive into the prospects.
Arizona Fall League Standouts
Andrew Painter, SP, Phillies
Painter’s highly-anticipated return to game action last weekend for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year represents the most significant fantasy storyline in the entire Arizona Fall League for dynasty league managers to monitor. According to Geoff Pontes of Baseball America, the 21-year-old right-hander was sitting in the 98-100 mph range on his fastball and also mixed in an upper-80s slider during a 29-pitch (18 strikes) outing that also included a pair of strikeouts and one walk over two frames. He turned in a flawless opening frame before giving up some hard contact, including a solo shot to Tigers prospect Josue Briceño, in his final frame of work. However, the encouraging development here is that Painter’s impressive raw stuff, which was drawing rave reviews in late-season bullpen sessions, appeared back to pre-surgery levels in his fall debut.
Painter’s immense raw talent, and proximity to the big leagues from a development standpoint, mean there’s a strong possibility he’s under consideration for an early-to-midseason call-up once he’s had a chance to sufficiently build up his stamina and workload. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters last Monday that he thinks Painter will be pitching at the big-league level at some point in 2025. The lost development time amplifies the short-term risk in his profile, but assuming that the stuff is back to pre-surgery levels, there’s little reason to believe he won’t make a significant impact for fantasy managers at some point in the near future. There’s an argument to be made for Tigers burgeoning star Jackson Jobe as the top pitching prospect in baseball from a pure dynasty standpoint heading into next season, but if we’re speculating purely on talent and upside alone, Painter should still be considered at the apex of dynasty rankings heading into spring training.
Colt Emerson, SS, Mariners
Emerson kicked off his AFL campaign last Tuesday with the fall showcase’s first four-double performance in two decades and currently leads the circuit with a sublime .458 (11-for-24) batting average to go along with six doubles, seven RBI, and one stolen base through five contests. The highly-touted 19-year-old phenom was limited to just 70 contests this past season, including only 29 at High-A Everett, where he struggled to a .225/.331/.317 triple-slash line in 139 plate appearances. Yet, it’s worth noting that he’s still extremely advanced for his age, checking in at nearly a half-decade younger than the rest of his competition.
He’s highly unlikely to make an impact for fantasy managers next season, but a strong showing in the AFL should cement his status as one of the top prospects in the game from a dynasty perspective. His impressive bat-to-ball skills and potential to grow into some additional over-the-fence pop as he matures physically, make it easy to envision Emerson blossoming into a future five-category impact fantasy contributor. There’s a lot to like here and Emerson’s early-fall performance has his dynasty stock on the rise after he finished this past season just inside the top 100 overall of our Fantrax Top 500 dynasty rankings. He’s a borderline top-15 dynasty shortstop heading into the 2025 campaign.
Zyhir Hope, OF, Dodgers
If you’re wondering what a potential future fantasy superstar looks like, take one look at Hope’s gargantuan 470-foot homer last Thursday during AFL action, which carried a stratospheric 110.6 mpg exit velocity, according to Statcast data. The precocious 19-year-old centerfielder got off to a sizzling-hot start to the minor-league season following an offseason trade from the Cubs and was rocketing up dynasty rankings lists, before missing nearly three months recovering from a shoulder injury which kept him on the shelf until late July. He finished the year batting a robust .287/.415/.490 with nine homers and eight steals across 248 plate appearances in 54 games for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga. Hope’s burgeoning power/speed combination makes him a surefire top-50 range dynasty outfielder heading into next season. The fact that he’s still a few hyperspace jumps away from reaching Los Angeles amplifies the risk, but he appears to have all of the tools required to assemble a potential fantasy star.
Connor Phillips, SP, Reds
After making five late-season starts during the 2023 season for Cincinnati, the 2024 season was an unmitigated disaster for Phillips, whose persistent struggles at Triple-A Louisville forced the Reds to ship him to the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League in late June in an effort to hit the reset button on his mechanics. He came back looking extremely sharp down the home stretch, compiling a strong 2.49 ERA, 1,38 WHIP, and 24/10 K/BB ratio across 21 2/3 innings (five starts) at the Triple-A level after August 21. He carried that momentum into his AFL debut last week, throwing 36 of 58 pitches for strikes, while also piling up seven strikeouts without handing out a free pass. The 23-year-old right-hander represents a bit of a wild card from a dynasty standpoint since the stuff has always been there for Phillips. He boasts a strong three-pitch mix with an upper-90s heater and a pair of strong breaking balls. If he’s able to consistently miss bats at the highest level, he could be a mid-rotation impact fantasy contributor as early as next season. He’s gone from completely off dynasty radar screens to someone worth monitoring heading into spring training, which feels like a significant development.
Xavier Isaac, 1B, Rays
After posting some of the most impressive average exit velocity data in the minors this past season, Isaac has continued to thrive in the AFL, hitting .286/.412/.786 with two homers through four contests. The 20-year-old emerging slugger’s offensive numbers this past season don’t exactly leap off the page, but he finished the year as a certifiable top-10 range dynasty first baseman after slugging 41 extra-base hits (18 round-trippers) in 102 contests between High-A Bowling Green and Double-A Montgomery. It’s worth noting that the plate skills weren’t sublime, but he was nearly a presidential term younger than the rest of the competition at the Double-A by the conclusion of the year. He’s just inside the top 100 overall in our latest Fantrax Top 500 dynasty rankings update heading into 2025. It’ll become easier to project Isaac with some additional data from the upper minors, but we’re confident he’s going to hit for power at the highest level, especially as he continues to thrive in AFL action.